Mayo GAA Discussion

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120259821#Comment_120259821

He certainly had an off night tonight. Started off by naming Matthew Tierney in midfield for us and plenty more mistakes after that.

irishgeo

The audio was terrible. It seemed like the audio was skipping every few seconds. The Kerry fans beside us were laughing at it.

Great win.

BENDYBINN

this mayo team will go on to dominate football for a long time

PressRun

A concern I would have is around Mattie Ruane. He's very loose in possession at times, can get dispossesed easily. In fact, I think he has struggled with form since the 2021 final.

Green Peter

Mod Edit

Warning issued.

RedDevil55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120260880#Comment_120260880

I think Ruane has been playing really well so far this year. Didn't notice him losing the ball much last night.

PressRun

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120261034#Comment_120261034

Hmmm. I don't fully agree. He definitely gave away cheap possession at least once last night. He literally soloed the ball into a Kerry player's hands at one point. Dreadful execution of a basic skill.

Fionn McDonagh is another one. He will struggle to keep his place come summer imo.

tanko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120260280#Comment_120260280

If Mayo win the All Ireland this year, what would they have to aim for? It wouldn’t be the same anymore.

RedDevil55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120261064#Comment_120261064

Fair enough. Over the course of 70+ minutes it's hard to avoid making the odd mistake!

Mattie is always looking to drive forward either by running it or a kick pass. If he went lateral and backwards more he might give the ball away less, but wouldn't be half as effective.

Blackjack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120261064#Comment_120261064

I think Matty was good in the Galway and Armagh games but definitely wasn't up to his usual standard last night. Fionn is another who made a few mistakes last night.

Kerry travelled up and back down again yesterday. Given that, it's hard to suggest they were targeting getting anything from the game if that was their approach. Not that it should matter to us. You can only beat what's in front of you, and they are the current League and All Ireland Champions, so have to be positive about the win.

PressRun

Definitely feel positive, especially about the defensive structure. There is something taking shape for sure and it feels like there is a purpose developing.

I also don't get the impression Kerry were fully taking it seriously either. I thought Jack O'Connor sounded a bit unbothered in his post match interview.

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120261064#Comment_120261064

Mattie executes the basic skills in a very unusual way. You wouldn't teach his kicking style to anyone. It works for him and he's not there for his silky skills.

Was he soloing it that time? I thought it looked like the Kerry lad just grabbed the ball when Mattie was about to kick it... He pops the ball up before he kicks it.

He adds an awful lot to the team though. I certainly wouldn't be grouping him with McDonagh, who I think is a little bit off the level required at the moment.

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120261799#Comment_120261799

15 minutes to throw in and they hadn't come out. An old Kerry gent behind me was worried by that... and even more worried by the actual warm-up itself, sort of a low intensity training game. It was more Junior B than All Ireland champions.

Fair to say they'll be a different animal in a few months.

PressRun

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120261961#Comment_120261961

I don't think he's the same as McDonagh and I wouldn't be looking to drop him, I just think he can be a bit loose at times. I thought he was brilliant in 2021 up to the final and he hasn't quite recaptured that form since, for me. I would still have him in the team. McDonagh is different in that I just don't think he's up to scratch unfortunately.

Squatman

Delighted to be proven wrong. Could only listen on the radio. I predicted a thumping and there was a thumping, I just expected to be on the receiving end of it. Disappointed we gave away a goal. On first half form I was hoping for an all time winning margin over Kerry! Probably weren't far off it.

Squatman

I checked it. 10 points was our largest ever Victory over kerry

MacDanger

Nice to get a big win over Kerry, it doesn't happen that often so we may as well enjoy it when it does. Good performances all over the pitch but Flynn & Hession in particular were excellent. I thought McHugh did very well considering his age. At the same time, we had a couple of bad wides and sloppy passing so there's still a bit to work on.

From a Kerry point of view, they look to be very reliant on Clifford & O'Shea - if either were to get injured during the year, Kerry would be right back in the pack imo.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120264715#Comment_120264715

I don't think Kerry are that far ahead of the pack as it is even with Clifford and O'Shea.

As for the game itself with the exception of the goal I again thought the defending was great.

They had gone soft in recent years, but they have really improved from what I have seen so far.

And once again it was the forwards that got the scores, no relying on the backs.

TagoMago

Great performance on Saturday night, Kerry looked very leggy, probably only starting the heavy training now but Mayo dispatched them convincingly.

Carr looking like he could be a class target man at 14. Except for RO'D they are all huge men in that forward line, can't remember having so much height 10-15 ever before.

Plenty could happen in the meantime obviously but playing the Rossies in the League final a week before playing them in a Connacht QF would be a strange and interesting set of events!

Green&Red

Thought Reape was excellent on Saturday, showed real composure, delighted for him

Agree that Ruane can be sloppy in possession from time to time and his tackling needs work.

Nice to see we seem to have a game plan which doesn't centre around us leaving the back of house bare, we are back to being an exciting team to watch.

PressRun

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120265192#Comment_120265192

Agreed on Reape. Thought he was very composed.

padd b1975

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120265192#Comment_120265192

To the best of my knowledge Reape hasn't made a goal stopping save in his three games, getting out and down quickly on the attackers boot.

Very good under the high stuff and gets his kickouts away more often than not.

Blackjack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120265813#Comment_120265813

I don't think he's had to make that many interventions to be honest - IMO our defence has improved so that there have been distinctly less efforts on goal compared to what we might have become accustomed to.

padd b1975

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120266249#Comment_120266249

Thought he was very flat-footed for the goals against Galway and kerry but I take your point about the excellent defence.

Blackjack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120266347#Comment_120266347

I'd agree he could have done better for both of those, no doubt he's learned from both of those now too.

Green&Red

I see JP Kean was on Ah Refs pod this week. He was lamenting what I'll call the county board mafia and how he thinks they shut him out and put a stop to his Midwest appearances and writing in the Western People.

Funny that

In 1993 Ray Dempsey got injured playing in a league match against Fermanagh, a week out from our All Ireland semi final against Eire Og. Early 1996 we were in the same position and the Knockmore lads refused to play in the league because we had Eire Og in another semi final.

The result was that no Knockmore players were invited to JP Keans minor trials. The club wrote asking for a teammate of mine to be considered. No reply. No representation on the county minor team.

I guess it's different when you're the one outside the door JP?

Blackjack

Interesting about JP. I know little about him though I’ve seen a few rants from him about the CB. I’ve seen his stuff be repeated by others who I would categorise as being a bit off centre and as such, I’ve taken his musings with a pinch of salt.

Fr Tod Umptious

Where was Orme Saturday night?

Was he injured?

If not why did he not get a run I wonder.

I would have thought a double digits lead would have been an ideal time to bring on a guy and get him scoring a few points.

Or is he done in managements eyes ?

Blackjack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120276162#Comment_120276162

You could say the same for Paul Towey or Conor McStay, with Conor getting that game time. I’d say Cillian was brought on to see out the game, slow it down and protect the lead, being the ideal old dog for that hard road.

PARlance

There's a general feeling that McStay will start experimenting a bit once we're safe in the league. That the likes of Towey, Orme etc will get their gametime then. That was the general feeling on The Sunday Game and Ah Ref podcast anyway.

I wouldn't be so sure at all. I can't see McStay building momentum, only to risk losing it just before the Championship.

7 or 8 decent quality league games is nothing really for a new management team in terms of trying to implement new patterns of play, new defensive systems etc... There's really not an awful lot of scope for giving too many new players time imo.

You just have to look at what O'Connor did with Kerry last year for a blueprint. It was full speed ahead for the league and Championship. He wanted them finely tuned by the championship and you don't get that by experimenting in the second half of the league imo.